Life After Lily
by Vixen Smith
Summary: This is Severus Snape's story, spanning the time period between his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to the day he dies.Title may change.Please review and keep in mind chapters will be updated as I go as I am posting outlines only.
1. Pologue

Even as a young child, Draco Malfoy had always wondered what was kept in The Room. He remembered peering under the door at the tender age of five, trying to catch a glimpse of what may lie within The Room's dark embrace. The door was reinforced with seemingly impenetrable charms and was always locked, the key hidden by his father, both of which frustrated him to an extreme extent. That door was, after all, the only thing keeping him from satisfying his burning curiosity.  
>Once he had made the mistake of asking his mother what The Room contained. A grim look had passed over her face and when she said nothing in response his father had sternly forbade him from mentioning the topic ever again. Hurt by his parents' evident anger and secrecy, Draco verbally had let the subject drop. Inside his young mind, however, obsession quickly took hold. Secretly, he tried every key he could find in the doorknob. He searched relentlessly for the key that would turn and answer all the questions searing his mind.<br>Up until the day The Room was opened and its contents reveled, Draco desperately searched for a way to unlock the door. On that day, however, he began to wish with more intensity that he had been born to a different family. He learned to hate the order to which he was bound and, in its place, he learned to love the sinister monster concealed within.


	2. Chapter 1

The soft click of shoes on a stone floor echoed through the castle halls. Dying daylight washed the vacant halls in golden light. Outside, wispy clouds drifted lazily across the red sky. Twilight would quickly be replaced by dusk. At this thought, the pace of the footsteps quickened. At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it was imperative that students were not caught out of dormitories after hours. For this particular student, however, the very idea of returning to a room of insufferable peers was overbearing.  
>Tearing open a door and emerging on an outdoor balcony, the boy finally stopped for breath. A cool evening breeze carried the faint scents of honeysuckle and lilacs. Turning his black eyes skyward, the student sighed. The breeze lifted his long, black hair as he observed the stars that began to sparkle in the sky. Closing his eyes, the boy felt the hot sting of tears. Slowly, the salty water began to run down his face. His breath caught in his throat. Grasping the stone rail he stared out at the blackening landscape before him.<br>_Why me?_  
>He hated people, he decided. All people. They were all rotten, disgusting creatures. Not worth the time. Just as more memories threatened to rush back, the sharp crack of a slamming door caught the boy's attention. Somewhere out in the darkness, some one had unknowingly joined him on the balcony. He was suddenly grateful for the size of the balcony—he wished to stay concealed. A flash of anxiety sliced his belly. Was this newcomer perhaps a teacher? Faintly, a soft muttering reached his ears. The voice was young and seemed to be laced with anger. Definitely another student, the boy reassured himself. Quietly, he moved in the direction of this other person. Keeping his hand on the stone of the rail he rounded a corner. Before him now stood a shadowy figure; no more than a silhouette to his eyes.<br>It was a girl that he could now see. He was much taller than she, which immediately caused him to question what year she was. Her voice was clear now, quite melodic yet very angry, he noted.

" Break me into a couple more pieces, why don't you? You must think I'm a bloody idiot, _well_, do I have news for you, you pretentious flea!"

The boy listened silently as the young woman quietly screamed in frustration. He contemplated what the best move to make would be. She was, after all, unaware of his presence.

"Who do you think you are? You-" she broke off to curse several times.

At the sharp intake of her breaths the boy turned to leave. He knew better than to confront some one when they were crying. The girl sniffled once.

" How long have you been standing there?" she asked.

Squeezing his eyes in annoyance, the boy turned back without replying. He watched her turn her head a fraction towards him.

"I know you're there. What have you heard?" she demanded.

The boy shrugged to himself. "Pretty much everything since you got here."

The girl snorted. "Lovely."

She turned to face him as he drew his wand.

"Lumos."

Light washed over both of them, illuminating facial features. The girl was pretty, he observed, not particularly beautiful or anything, but certainly attractive. Her eyes were rimmed with a shade of red from crying, but her irises were a light gray. Her hair was long, straight, and blond. As far as her figure went, she was petite and very skinny.  
>She surveyed him, taking in every detail of the tall, thin boy that stood before her.<p>

"You're from Slytherin," she observed.

"Yeah, and?"

"I am too."

He looked her over once again. "I recognize you," he said after a moment of silence.

She nodded. "Are you a sixth year?"

"Yeah."

A small smile played around her lips, brightening her features for a second. It seemed to make her instantly prettier. "That explains it then. We're in the same class."

He thought for a moment. "Charms?"

Again she nodded. "I don't believe we've formally met."

"I've never really noticed you before."

A look of uncertainty shadowed her face for a moment. Offering a shy hand in salutation, she introduced herself.

"I'm Thorn O'Conner."

Slowly he took her hand and shook it gently.

"Severus Snape."

_

Sorry this is so short so far I'm currently only writing outlines. When I change things I'll update documents. PROMISE! :D

~Vixen 3


	3. Chapter 2

A flash of lightning broke the night sky. The electric light flickered against Thorn's face as she watched the display. A quickening wind lifted her hair. Severus studied her. She seemed to be a very kind girl underneath the layers of thicker skin. He wondered what could have happened to make her wear a mask. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"I counted to four. We better move before we get rained on," she said.

When Severus made no reply, she pushed past him urgently. "Come on. That storm's moving fast. It'll be here any minute." 

Just as he opened his mouth to ask how she knew, rain began to pour down on Severus, soaking his robes and hair. Thorn ventured out of the shelter of the open doorway to grab his wrist. She pulled hard, hissing "Come _on!"_

She shut the door behind him and glanced down the halls.

"We can't be caught!" Severus whispered.

"I know. Come on, let's go."

Together they ran down hallway after hallway as noiselessly as possible. When they left the carpeted floors and landed hard on bare stone Thorn noted grimly how loud their footsteps sounded.

"Stop, stop, stop!" she hissed, pulling on Severus's sleeve.

He shot her a questioning look. Thorn kneeled down and began to unlace her shoes.

"Take your shoes off!"

Obediently, Severus began to fumble with the laces. He imitated Thorn by tying his shoes together and, pulling her to her feet, he dashed down the halls again. He barely noticed her weight as he dragged her with him by her hand. He could only think about getting back to the Slytherin common room safely.  
>Severus and Thorn took a sharp turn, causing them to sped up. They were almost there, the stairwell leading down to the dungeons and to the common room straight ahead. Light suddenly flooded the hall as a teacher surveyed for sneaking students. Silently, Severus pushed Thorn into a crevice behind one of the enormous, unlit torches that lined the castle's corridors.<p>

"What are you-" Thorn began sharply.

Severus cut her off by covering her mouth and placing a finger to his lips. Thorn peeked around the concrete torch and watched the light grow closer. She crept back and crouched down. Severus did the same and they pressed themselves into the cold stone at their backs. Anxiously they waited for the light to fade back to darkness. Severus felt his heart sink as the light grew more intense.

"It's Filch," Thorn whispered.

Severus rolled his eyes. _Of course he had to come down this way._

They inched their way around the stone block as Filch passed. When he turned and disappeared, Severus and Thorn darted out from their hiding place. They descended the steep stairway carefully, wary of their footing. One wrong move could send a person tumbling down into the dungeon below. The two stopped short of a bare stone wall. Thorn glanced nervously around while Severus whispered the password. Stones scraped together as they disassembled and moved to create a passage into the room concealed behind. Silently they slunk inside and faced eachother, exhilarated. The stones slid back into place behind them.  
>A grin broke out across Thorn's face and she giggled. Severus smiled back and began to laugh with her. He didn't know why, but there was something funny about this strange girl standing in front of him without shoes on.<p>

"How did we _manage _that?" she asked through her laughter.

Severus shrugged. "No idea," he replied.

"We definitely should have been caught!"

"Definitely."

A door opened and closed softly as a student emerged from the boys' dormitory. Groggily, he rubbed his eyes and stretched.

"Would you mind keeping it down? Some of us are trying to sleep," he said.

As he caught sight of the pair, he froze. A sneer twisted his face and disdain laced his voice.

"Awe, has Snivellus got himself a little girlfriend? That's cute," the boy continued, looking down his nose at Thorn.

Severus interjected as Thorn opened her mouth to object. "Robbie, please don't."

Robbie looked Thorn up and down and snorted. "She looks like a freak to me. You two must be perfect for eachother."

Thorn slumped slightly at Robbie's words. 'Freak', she mouthed to herself.

"That's right," Robbie said sweetly, " A freak. You don't belong in Hogwarts, you dirty skank. You're a disgrace to Slytherin. This house is a place for purebloods, not mudbloods."

Thorn straightened at the two discriminating words. She held Robbie's gaze, anger flashing in her gray eyes. She wound back her right arm and threw what would have been a well-aimed punch at Robbie had he not stepped out of the way.

"How _dare _you! Don't contaminate me with your disgusting mudblood germs!"

"Don't speak to her like that!" Severus hissed.

"Shut it, you filthy halfblood! You're just as bad as the rest of them," Robbie growled, gesturing to Thorn.  
>"You should be grateful you were even accepted into Hogwarts! You're just as naïve and worthless as muggles. You should be honoured to even be in the presence of a pureblood. We are above you."<p>

Severus was taken aback. He lowered his eyes as Thorn gaped in shock at the cruel words.

"That's better," Robbie sneered. Snatching a quick, disapproving glimpse of Thorn again, he turned on his heel and marched back to his dorm.

"For the record, I _am _a pureblood!" she called after him.

Robbie sniffed indignantly and muttered to himself as he melted into the dorm. When he was gone, she turned to face Severus again. 

"Does he talk to you like that often?" Thorn asked in a low voice, her arms tucked tightly behind her back.

Severus nodded. "All the time. Everyone does."

"And you let them?" Thorn cocked an eyebrow. Severus didn't reply.  
>"Is he why you were outside?" she pressed. <p>

He shook his head. "No," he said quietly.

"Then why?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Severus dismissed her after a pause.

"Well, okay, but I'm here if you ever need to talk to someone," she said, offering a timid smile.

"I meant never mind," Severus snapped.

Thorn narrowed her eyes. "Well, fine, forget I offered anything then."

His eyes followed her as she moved to sit in an armchair. She stared absently into the empty fireplace. Severus immediately felt bad for snapping at her.  
>Thorn had tucked her left leg up underneath her and left her arms draped over the armrests of her chair. In the greenish glow of the common room, she looked sickly and perhaps a little too thin. She sat motionless save for blinking and the slight rise and fall of her chest. In the low light her skin seemed to glow, making her seem almost transparent. Like a ghost, Severus observed.<p>

"Are you just going to stand there and stare or are you going to go to bed?" Thorn asked sharply.

Turning away from her, Severus replied, "I'm going to go. Goodnight, then."

Thorn snorted as he disappeared into the boys' dormitory. 

Yeah it's still too short. More detail coming.

~Vixen


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